


The Seventh Apprentice of Gertrude Robinson

by RavenDarkwood



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, F/M, Familiars, M/M, Magical Contracts, Mutual Pining, Only One Bed, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Trading your first born to a witch, Witch!Gertrude, Witch!Jon, Witches, except your first born is an adult, they're like eighteen, witch!Sasha, young jon and martin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 09:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25468594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenDarkwood/pseuds/RavenDarkwood
Summary: Jon only wanted to know magic. He ends up signing up to be the apprentice of Gertrude Robinson, who is far more concerned with the big picture and really doesn't bother to teach Jon magic.Martin is traded to Gertrude Robinson by his mother for good health, and now is living with Gertrude and Jon.They, and all the other apprentices, will feel the consequences of their witch's actions.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sasha James/Tim Stoker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 57





	The Seventh Apprentice of Gertrude Robinson

Jon is falling.

He is not afraid.

He’s not afraid because this is a controlled fall. His broom is in his dominant hand and his familiar is gliding with him, and he knows that she’ll let him know if he screws up so badly that he ends up even close to the ground.

This isn’t the first time he’s done this though, and he trusts his ability to estimate where the ground is.

Jon is in control, and his eyes are on the sky as he falls, though he mostly sees his own hair flowing with the wind, reaching up towards the sky.

The sky is blue, his hair is dark and long, and his familiar lands for a moment on his broom. He feels her weight, but more than anything he Knows that she is there.

She bites one of his fingers with her beak, and he knows that it’s time to slow down.

Jon doesn’t even climb back into his broom, just keeps a tight grip as he changes the angle at which the broom is flying. Straight down, to more sideways, so he too is gliding along.

Maybe it’s not the prettiest display of broom flying, but honestly, Jon really doesn’t care.

He lands just inside the walls of Irisfields in his usual spot, and when Aletheia lands beside him she shifts from a bird into a brown cat.

“Right, need to set up…” He mutters to no one in particular as he digs through his satchel.

“Martin’s coming,” Aletheia announces, taking the opportunity of Jon leaning over to jump up onto his shoulders.

“What?” Jon straightens up, and honestly it’s easy to see Martin through the crowd. He’s certainly tall enough. “He’s early…” Jon groans as he digs through his bag faster.

“Your hair’s a mess,” Aletheia tells him brightly, as if she’s any help in this situation.

Jon rolls his eyes. “Yes, I could have guessed that.” He pulls a small wooden box from his satchel. “I usually have time to brush it, but he’s _early_ … Why is he…” Jon continues to mutter to himself as he pulls his wand out. He taps the box twice with his wand and throws it on the ground.

He doesn’t back away from it as it shakes, and where there was once a wooden box there was now a wooden table. Jon doesn’t look up when Martin approaches, just busies himself with pulling out the various potions and spell work that the people of Irisfields had ordered last week.

“Oh, Tim’s with him,” Aletheia whispers, and then she is no longer a cat, but a moth. She lands in his hair and stays there looking like a strange hair clip.

“Oh great,” Jon mutters to Aletheia. “Just what I need.”

“You like Tim,” she reminds him.

“Yes, well, he doesn’t seem to like me very much.”

If Aletheia was going to respond, she doesn’t get the chance.

“Good morning Jon,” Martin calls out brightly as he approaches. “I know I’m a bit early, but I-I… well, I was in the area-”

“Martin, you live here. You’re always in the area,” Jon pointed out, only now pausing in his unloading to look up at him.

His smile is somewhere in the middle of apologetic and warm and given that it’s slowly shrinking Jon could guess that it was larger before Jon had spoken. Oh lovely, nothing like accidentally insulting the one person who actually goes out of his way to talk to Jon first thing in the morning.

“Wow, it’s already time to be mean to Martin,” Tim says with raised eyebrows. “Pretty early for that sort of thing.”

“I’m not the early ones,” Jon retorts immediately, fixing Tim with a cool gaze. “Regardless, I didn’t mean to come off as rude Martin.”

“Oh, it’s alright.” Martin smiles down at him, and nods.

Jon hums and nods. “Alright, I’ll give you your box then. I don’t want to keep you.” He digs around in his bag.

“W-Well, actually there’s a reason I’m here early.”

“Oh?” Jon asks, looking back up to Martin.

Martin isn’t looking at him anymore, and now seems keen on looking anywhere but Jon. “I was just… well, um… Do you have a lot to do today?”

Jon pauses to think about it, and shrugs. “No more than any other day I suppose. Gertrude doesn’t give me a lot of free time.”

Martin nods quickly. His looks to the ground, and he wrings his hands together. “Right, right…”

Jon frowns and looks at Tim, who in turn looks at Martin with a sympathetic frown. “Why?” He asks as he looks back to Martin.

“Well, I was… _we_ were…” Martin says with a shrug, looking a few inches above Jon’s head now.

For a moment Jon thinks about just telling him to spit it out and that Jon isn’t going to hurt him, but decides that now is a fairly decent moment to get back to pulling out the orders and gets back to that while Martin finds his words.

“Well, there’s a trivia night at the pub-”

“Ah, I see,” Jon interrupts again as he sets down a box meant for Rosie.

Martin’s eyes finally are on him again. “You do?”

Jon nods, looking up to Martin. “You want to win. It makes sense to ask the Eye Apprentice to be on your team.”

“O-Oh, um-” Martin tries to start again, but is interrupted by Tim this time.

“Isn’t that cheating?”

Jon snorts. “I’m not above cheating at trivia night in a pub.”

Tim raises an eyebrow. “You’re not above many things.” He holds his hand to his own head, and draws it across to Jon’s, showing the difference in their heights, something that Jon was already well aware of.

Jon scowls at Tim, but turns his attention back to Martin. “The fact that no one else has bothered to ask me already shows just how poor their strategy is. We’ll win,” Jon tries to assure Martin, who was looking rather put out for some reason.

Tim snorts and rocks back on his heels “Right, that’s why no one’s bothered to ask you to play trivia or go drinking with them. Poor strategy.”

“And what are you going to be bringing to the team?” Jon crosses his arms over his chest.

Tim snaps both of his fingers. “I can flirt with the bartender and get us free drinks.”

Jon eyes him for a moment and nods. “Alright, that sounds pretty valuable to the team. What are you bringing to the team?” He turns to ask Martin.

“Um!” Martin squeaks at being put on the spot.

“Well he’s team leader of course,” Tim buts in. “He’s the one going around and asking people to join _his_ team. Ergo, team leader.”

“Right, that’s what I’m doing. Asking people to… join my… trivia team,” Martin sighs.

Jon tilts his head, looking between the two of them. “Do we have enough players?”

Tim blinks at him. A small, incredulous grin breaks across his face. “What, you have friends you wanted to invite.”

Jon huffs. “I have… a friend who might be interested. Her name’s Sasha. She’s driven in her work, but she says that we need to get out more, so she might be interested.”

“Right, right, so Sasha,” Tim starts, looking at Jon with sudden interest. “How would you describe her?”

“Um…” Jon shrugs. “Level-headed while also being playful I suppose? Driven in her studies, as I’ve mentioned before. Smart, very smart. Smarter than me at least,” Jon says with a wistful sigh. “We’ve both been called too curious for our own goods, but I’m not sure how true that is. Tall,” he adds at the last moment.

“Tall,” Tim repeats. “How tall?”

“Um.” Jon tilts his head as he considers for a moment. “Taller than both of us, but shorter than Martin.”

“Well, everyone’s shorter than Martin,” Tim grins. “Well, I think this is a superb idea, and should be a lot of fun. You know,” he grabs onto Martin’s arm, shaking it a bit. “You and Jon, me and Sasha. Trivia team. She just sounds like a delight to get to know. Sounds like loads of fun.”

Martin blinks at him a few times, and smiles. “Right, it does sound like fun. I hope Sasha’s able to make it. Is she in town?”

Jon shakes his head. “No, but she’ll have no trouble getting-”

“Jon.”

The three of them jump and spin. Standing there is a small old woman in a cardigan. Her hair is pulled back into a tight bun, and her face is stern.

“Gertrude?” While it’s true that he’s only been Gertrude’s apprentice for a short amount of time he hasn’t actually seen her in Irisfields in… well, ever. “Is there something wrong?”

“ _That’s_ Gertrude?” Tim asks incredulously.

“Go back to the cottage Jon. I have business with Mr. Blackwood.”

Jon opens his mouth and looks around a bit helplessly. “I still have the orders…” He starts, but trails off once Gertrude’s gaze is fixed on him.

“Go back to the cottage Jon. I won't ask you again.”

Jon scoffs, walking around the table. “Gert-”

Gertrude snaps.

Jon is falling.

Jon is falling, and Aletheia is ripped from his hair from the wind's force.

He isn’t falling for very long.

There is a pond near the witch’s cottage, one that Jon tries his best to stay away from. The water is nice to look at, but he can only imagine the disgusting things it’s filled with.

It's nearly painful when he hits the water, but Gertrude didn’t put him high enough to where it would actually harm him. No, he would probably just be sore for a few days, which was very annoying.

It takes a few seconds for Jon to shake away the shock of suddenly being in the pond and to locate the surface. Jon is nothing if not a decent swimmer, and even with his robes weighing him down.

Getting out of the pond was an entirely different story. His waterlogged clothes and the steep, slick edges made it very difficult and eventually he just had to summon his broom to get out. A bit of a waste, and a bit embarrassing, but it wasn’t like anyone was there to witness it.

Aletheia is waiting on shore for him. She takes the form of a very large and fluffy dog. “I was going to come get you if you didn’t get out by yourself,” she tells him.

“What do you think she wants with Martin?” Jon peels off his robes and almost debates just putting them back on when he feels just how heavy they are in his arms. At least when he was wearing them the weight was dispersed evenly, even if they were dragging him down a bit.

“I have no idea,” Aletheia answers honestly. Her tail wags as she trots aside Jon. “I guess now we get started on our chores?”

Jon snorts. “I’m going to take a bath and wash my clothes. If Gertrude wants the chores done so badly after preventing me from delivering the orders and throwing me in the pond then she can do them herself.”

Aletheia tilts her head as she watches Jon throw his robe over the clothesline. “I don’t think Gertrude will be thrilled about that.”

Jon shrugs. “It can wait until I’ve at least scrubbed all the pond scum out of my hair.” He opens the side door for her, and after a small sigh she walks inside. Jon followed behind her, dripping along the floor as he went.

* * *

“So describe Tim.”

Jon turns to the mirror he has leaning up against a book on the counter. “Tim? Well, funny? Or at least he thinks he is,” Jon adds with a roll of his eyes. “I haven’t spent much time with him. I think magic may scare him a bit?” Jon shrugs at Sasha and turns back to the food he’s cooking. “He’s friends with Martin, so he’s probably nice to everyone but me.”

“Oh, that’s too bad about the magic thing. Is he handsome?”

“Um, yes? He’s tall too.”

“Tall? How tall?”

“Taller than me, shorter than you.”

Sasha moves closer to the mirror, so now Jon is only seeing the top half of her face. “Does he know that?”

“Yes, I mentioned it. He seemed interested… _Oh_.” He looks at Sasha with a frown. “You’re going to try to fuck Tim aren’t you?”

“I’m going to try to fuck Tim,” Sasha confirms, and when she leans back Jon can see her smirking. “I mean, if we’re doing a double date thing I might as well.”

“It’s not- Sasha, look. I know what’s most important to you, and Tim’s…” Jon trails off for a moment as he tries to find the right word. “Squishy?”

“Ah yes I see. You don’t want him to fall for me, because that’s something I’m so known for, breaking hearts.”

“Look, if Tim gets sad or angry because you want to keep it casual you’re not going to be here to deal with it.”

“And you would be?”

Jon shrugs, throwing his arms up. “Maybe, I don’t know, it feels like that happens a lot to me. I don’t know Tim that well. I have no idea how he’ll react.”

There’s a knock on the cottage door. Jon looks away from Sasha with a frown.

“Was that a knock?” Sasha asks.

“Yes.”

“There’s someone at the door Jon,” Aletheia says, standing and twisting around herself to look at the door.

“Yes, I noticed.” Jon stops the flames with a wave of his hand.

“Is Gertrude there?”

“No.”

“Are you going to answer it?” Aletheia asks.

“Yes, I am. Now, excuse me.” Jon attempts to squeeze past Aletheia, as she was still a massive dog, and there really wasn’t enough room for her in the cottage. “Go back to being a cat or something. I don’t even like dogs.”

“Be careful Jon,” Sasha calls from the mirror.

“I will be,” Jon turns off the mirror with a flick of his fingers, just in time to hear Sasha snort at his response.

He finally gets by Aletheia, only for her to nearly push him over in an attempt to get to the door. “It’s Martin and Tim!” She calls back to him after sniffing at the door.

“Martin?” The confusion hits first, because why would Martin be here so late? And why would he even be this close to the border at all?

Then it’s panic, when he looks down and realizes that he’s in his night clothes, and his hair is up in a towel from his second bath. “Oh shit,” he breathes out, looking around desperately for a moment, as if there would be clothes of his conveniently nearby.

The knock comes again, harder and louder and sharper.

“One second Martin,” Jon calls out, and in his desperation yanks his towel from his head and throws it into the cups cupboard. He doesn’t have a hairbrush on him, so he tries to run his fingers through his hair to get rid of the snarls.

“And Tim,” Aletheia pointedly says as she shifts into a small tabby and climbs along his shoulders.

“Right, right. And Tim,” Jon mindlessly repeats, and just throws his hair behind him and hopes that maybe they won't notice.

As he opens the door, he realizes that he has nothing prepared for how to greet them. No one’s ever knocked on the cottage door before, and he was so concerned about how he looks that he completely forgot to think about what to say.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter because when he sees Martin’s red and teary eyes and Tim’s furrowed brow all thoughts are driven from his head. They’re both carrying a box and a bag each.

“What’s going on?” Jon asks, concerned.

“Mum traded me to Gertrude for good health,” Martin admits quietly. “A sort of trade your firstborn to a witch sort of thing.”

“But she can’t do that,” Tim immediately argues. “Martin’s eighteen, he’s legally an adult. That sort of bullshit can’t work, right?”

Jon’s quiet, and he looks away from both of them. “She’s… still his mum. She doesn’t stop being his mum just because he turned eighteen. And things like legal ages change. It used to be twenty-one.”

Tim curses and leans his head back. After a few moments he looks back down at Jon. “So what? That’s it?”

Jon opens the door wider. “Come inside. Let me see the contract.” Jon runs his fingers through Aletheia’s fur, not looking at either of them. “I can’t promise it’ll help. I, um… well, I’m not too terribly good at contract negotiation, let’s say.”

The cottage is small. The door opens into a kitchen which in turn leads to a bathroom just on the right, a staircase and a hall where the door out to the garden is, and the hall leads to Jon’s room, or as Gertrude refers to it as, the Apprentice’s room. The staircase leads to Gertrude’s room and the library. Jon isn’t allowed up the stairs.

There really isn’t anywhere for them to set their bags down besides the dining table, which is pushed against the wall of the kitchen in a desperate attempt to save room. “I don’t have it on me,” Martin says as he sets down his things. “Gertrude took the contract with her I think?”

Jon pulls out one of the chairs and gestures to Martin to sit. “Yes, you do.”

Martin doesn’t hesitate to sit, and now that Martin is much closer to Jon’s height he walks around to Martin’s back.

Thankfully, he isn’t wearing a turtleneck today, and with how short Martin’s curls are it’s very easy to see a glowing green stylized eye on the back of his neck.

“What’s that?” Tim breathes out, moving closer to get a better look at it.

“What’s what?” Martin asks, twisting his head around.

“When you are a part of a lasting contract with a witch, the contract leaves its seal on you. In this case, Gertrude the Eye Witch’s contract with your mother left an eye on you.”

“An eye!?” Martin’s hand goes to the back of his neck to rub there. After a few seconds he lets out a sigh of relief. “Okay, so I can’t _feel_ the eye.”

“Oh, sorry. It’s more like a tattoo or a brand than an actual eye peering out of the back of your neck.” Then Jon tilts his head. “Though I suppose it functions in a similar way to Gertrude.”

There is a beat of silence that follows.

“Alright sinister, what the fuck does that mean?” Tim finally asks with an exasperated sigh.

“Gertrude can figure out where we are because of the contract seal, and can see through it,” Jon explains, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not terribly fond of it either, if I’m being honest.”

“Great, now can I break the contract o-or find a loophole or something?” Martin asks as he twists around to look at Jon.

“Yes, yes. Look forward again, I need to See the seal.” Jon braces his hands on the back of the chair, and for a moment is very distracted by how warm and soft Martin’s back is.

“Jon, another time maybe,” Aletheia whispers.

“Right, right,” Jon mutters.

“Something wrong?” Tim asks from right beside him, and Jon is very glad that blushing doesn’t show up on him easily.

“Nope, nothing, not at all,” Jon says quickly and goes back to trying to focus on the back of Martin’s neck and… his shoulders-

“Ow!” Jon’s hand grasps his ear, and he glares down at Aletheia. “What was that for?”

“Theia did you just hurt Jon?” Martin asks, twisting back around. “Are you alright?”

“He’s fine, I didn’t bite him hard. Turn back around.” Aletheia crosses along Jon’s shoulders and sits on the other side. “I’m just very happy that I was never a teenager.”

Tim sighs very loudly, giving Jon a pointed look with raised eyebrows.

Jon just shrugs a bit helplessly at him because he really isn’t sure how to express _this is closest I’ve been to someone in a very long time and I might be a bit touch starved_ and _Martin is warm and nice and I would very much like to be held by him_ without both giving up his dignity and alerting Martin. “I’m eighteen, hardly a teenager,” he says under his breath. “Go back to facing forward again Martin. I have it this time.”

“Well, alright…” Martin turns back around.

And Jon Sees.

It only takes a second, and for that second Jon’s eyes are a bright, unnatural green rather than his usual deep brown.

Jon shakes his head when he comes out of it. “Alright, I believe I have an understanding of it.”

Martin turns back to face him again. “What are my options?”

“Get disowned by your mother, or grow your hair out. People tend to stare at it when it's out, and I didn’t like it very much.”

Tim blinks a few times. “That’s it? That’s all you can do?”

“What do you expect me to do Tim? Wave my hand and make it go away?”

“Yeah, why not? It’s magic, isn’t it? And you’re learning it, so learn how to fix it.”

“Gertrude’s already taught me all the magic that she’s going too, and none of it isn’t to help in this situation. Unless you want me to make a door that travels to everywhere and nowhere or to skin Martin and make him into a book there isn’t much I can actually do.”

“Wait, what was that last one?”

“Jon?” Martin asks quietly.

“Yes, Martin?” Jon lowers his voice to match Martin’s tone.

“If I break the contract will my mum get sick again?”

Jon winces, glancing over to Tim for a second before returning to Martin. “Yes, she would.”

“Right,” Martin says, nodding a little. “Right,” he repeats quieter. “Then I suppose it’s settled.” He stands, shoulder slumping. “Where can I put my things?”

“That’s it then?” Tim looks desperately between the two of them. “We’re just giving up?”

“She’s my mum Tim. If there’s something I can do to make her better than I’m going to do it. Besides, she kicked me out. I don’t really have anywhere to go.”

“He doesn’t really have a choice either,” Jon points out.

“You just said that he has a choice; get disowned or deal with it,” Tim points out right back.

“Yes, but it’s his mom that controls if she disowns him, and if she knows that if she disowns Martin then she gets sick again, so why would she disown Martin? Martin doesn’t have any control over this whatsoever.”

“Wow Jon, _thanks_. It’s not as thought I was enjoying the illusion of control or anything,” Martin huffs out, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Oh.” Jon folds his hands in his lap. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, just… Where can I put my things?”

Jon hesitates and looks around. “There’s only two bedrooms… Gertrude’s and mine.”

“Oh! Well, I can just sleep on a couch, that’s what I was doing before-”

“We don’t have a couch.” Jon shakes his head and straightens up. “Right, it’s just down the hall, on the other side of the stairs. We’ll just… have to share. I don’t have maybe belongings anyway,” Jon tries to assure him. “Come on.”

Jon’s room is tiny, but doesn’t have a lot in it. There’s a bed pushed into a far wall, a chest at the end of that bed, a desk pushed up against the single window, and a bookcase that stops the door from being opened fully.

“It’s going to be a bit of a squeeze,” Jon says as he sits down on his bed. “Clothes go in the chest… We’ll have to try and keep ours separated. Other things… can go on the bookshelf I suppose. There’s still room on it…” Jon trails off as he looks around, but quickly Tim and Martins’ attention was elsewhere.

Both of them were staring through the window.

“Wow, we’re just… right on the forest, aren’t we?” Martin says in a shaking voice.

Jon tilts his head. “Well, yes. The witches keep and protect the border, ergo the cottage is on it.”

“Yes Jon, I understand logically that we’re right on the Forest, but it’s… different seeing this close.”

“Is it dangerous? Being this close?” Tim asks, laying a hand on Martin’s arm.

“Well, yes. It’s the Forest, it’s dangerous. They can’t come inside of the cottage’s boundary lines though. The most they can do is throw things,” he says quickly after seeing their stricken faces, but his reassurance doesn’t seem to help. “Don’t go inside of the Forest without me and you’ll be fine.”

“Right, right. So, magically bound to a witch that I don’t know super well, sharing a room with Jon, and living right next to the Forest which, of course,” Martin lists, his voice progressively getting higher as he went. “Am I forgetting anything?”

Jon tilts his head in thought, and freezes with a sudden realization. “Well, we’re going to have to share a bed too,” he points out, very glad that blushing isn’t easily seen on him.

“Sh-Share a bed?” Martin squeaked out.

“There’s nowhere else to sleep?” Jon shrugs. “I, um, don’t mind. There’s room enough for both of us… probably…” Jon looks down to pretend to examine the width of the bed.

“Might be a bit of a squeeze…”

“Yeah… bit of a squeeze,” Martin repeats breathlessly.

“Well!” Tim says loudly, causing three sets of eyes to snap to him. “I guess I should probably head home, if you’re going to be alright here Martin?”

Martin nodded quickly. “Yes, um, as alright as I can be in the situation?”

“And you’re alright with being here without me?”

“I’m an adult Tim. We’ll figure this out.”

“Sorry about trivia night,” Jon says, looking in between them. “Maybe next time?”

Tim nods. “Yeah, maybe. Alright, good night Jon, Martin, Jon’s creepy sometimes cat.”

“My name’s Thelia,” Aletheia tells him brightly.

“It’s so weird you can talk,” Tim responds evenly. “Night. I’ll see myself out.” He gives the three of them a bit of a wave and closes the door behind him.

“Do you want to put away your things now, or?” Jon asks Martin after a moment.

“Maybe later, I’ll be honest Jon I kind of just want to get to bed.”

Jon nods and doesn’t speak for a few moments. “Have you eaten yet?”

Martin blinks over at him and furrows his brow as he thinks. “Not since breakfast.”

“I was making some soup before you and Tim arrived. Would you like to join me for dinner?”

Martin smiles at him, small and soft and sad. “That sounds really nice. Thank you.”

Jon finds himself unable to speak for a second. “I wouldn’t say that before you’ve tried my cooking,” Jon tries to joke. “My cooking isn’t very good,” Jon explains after a moment, not trusting that his joke would land.

“Don’t sell yourself short before I’ve even tried it,” Martin responds quietly, his smile not quite gone yet.

Jon shrugs and holds the door open for Martin. “I wouldn’t get your hope too high about me.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was a really fun write for me, I just love witches and witch aus, I really hope everyone enjoys this.


End file.
